Who We Are & How We Work

At Business Transition Specialists (BTS), we help business owners build companies that grow profits predictably, operate with less friction, and create transferable value long before a transition is on the table.

Most advisors enter the picture late, when a sale is imminent, pressure is high, and options are limited.

We work earlier and differently, helping owners strengthen their businesses well in advance of a transition, when time, leverage, and options are still available. Because value is not created at the moment of exit. It is built deliberately over time through intentional decisions, disciplined execution, and thoughtful design.

How We See Businesses

We view every business as an engine designed to convert effort into results.

Most business owners share three core goals:

  • Grow the business profitably. Not just revenue growth, but durable cash flow that does not rely on heroic effort from the owner.

  • Make the business easier to run. Fewer daily decisions, clearer accountability, and systems that work without constant oversight.

  • Be prepared for an eventual transition. Whether that is a sale, succession, or partial exit, with value that holds up under outside scrutiny.

Very few owners have a clear, objective way to measure whether their business is actually built to achieve all three at the same time. Growth, ease, and transferability often compete with one another unless the business is intentionally designed for them.

That is the problem BTS was built to solve.

Strategic Capacity Is the Difference

Our work centers on Strategic Capacity, a company’s ability to grow profits, scale sustainably, and transfer value with confidence.

Strategic Capacity is built across three interconnected dimensions:

  • Operational strength. Leadership depth, people, systems, recurring revenue, margins, customer satisfaction, and disciplined execution.

  • Strategic clarity. Vision, planning, culture, market positioning, scalable sales and marketing, and innovation.

  • Value readiness. Credible financials, risk mitigation, defensible market position, governance, and a business story that holds up under scrutiny.

When these dimensions are aligned, the business becomes a platform for growth rather than a constraint on it.

Introducing Clarity

To make this work practical and measurable, we begin with Clarity, our Strategic Capacity and Business Value Report.

Clarity provides business owners with a one-page, objective snapshot of how their company would be viewed by an independent buyer or investor today, and what would need to change to increase confidence tomorrow.

It answers a question every owner eventually faces: How much confidence would an independent buyer or investor have in this business’s ability to grow free cash flow predictably into the future.

What Clarity Delivers

Clarity turns raw business data into a strategic, value-focused scorecard owners can use to guide real decisions.

It:

  • Diagnoses the business using a Strategic Capacity Score benchmarked against best-in-class competitors.

  • Connects operational strength directly to enterprise value.

  • Illustrates today’s value alongside potential future value.

  • Identifies priority value gaps and translates them into clear objectives and key results.

  • Assigns ownership and tracks KPIs to drive accountability and execution.

In many cases, the difference between a modest outcome and a premium valuation is not growth alone. It is predictability, risk reduction, and confidence.

Clarity shifts the conversation from reporting the past to engineering the future of enterprise value.

Why This Matters

Value is often lost quietly, long before an owner ever considers a sale or transition. It erodes through everyday decisions, structural shortcuts, and risks that feel manageable in the moment but compound over time. By the time value loss shows up on paper, it is usually too late to recover.

Common sources of hidden value erosion include:

  • Overreliance on a single customer.

  • Founder-centric operations.

  • Inconsistent or unpredictable cash flow.

  • Weak or undefined succession planning.

  • Unaddressed operational and execution risk.

These issues rarely appear in financial statements, yet they are often the first things buyers, investors, and lenders notice. They directly affect confidence in the business’s ability to grow and generate cash flow without the owner at the center.

Clarity reveals these blind spots early, when they are still fixable and when addressing them creates real leverage. Instead of reacting to a future transaction, owners gain the ability to make deliberate, informed decisions about growth, liquidity, succession, or exit on their own terms.

What Makes BTS Different

At BTS, exit planning is not an add-on or a secondary service. It is our sole focus.

We are not trying to sell your business.
We are not managing your investments.
We are not selling financial products.

Our role is to help you plan for and execute a successful exit intentionally and on your terms.

A Proven, Disciplined Methodology

Our process is grounded in the Value Acceleration Methodology, developed by the Exit Planning Institute, the leading authority in exit planning.

This methodology is designed to help owners grow enterprise value while reducing risk long before a transaction is contemplated. It replaces broad recommendations with a clear, executable roadmap that aligns strategy, operations, and value creation.

Deep, Personalized Exit Planning

We do not offer generic advice.

We conduct a deep analysis of your business to develop a personalized exit plan with specific, actionable steps to improve profitability, cash flow, and transferable value. Just as important, we work alongside you and your internal team to help implement that plan from start to finish. Exit planning only works when execution follows insight.

A Team-Based Approach

We do not replace your existing advisors.

We believe exit planning is a team effort, and the strongest outcomes come from coordination across accounting, legal, financial, and operational disciplines. We collaborate closely with your current advisors and, when needed, draw on our extended network of professional advisors and subject matter experts to support specific aspects of the plan.

Our Mission

Our mission is to help mid-sized business owners plan for one of the most significant financial events of their lives: the successful transition of their business, with the clarity and confidence needed to begin their next chapter.

Most business owners only get one real shot at this. There are no do-overs. No rehearsal. No second chance to recover lost value or missed timing. That is why we approach this work with discipline and urgency. Not because owners are selling tomorrow, but because the decisions made today quietly determine the outcome years from now.

Our passion is making sure that when the time comes, your one shot is your best shot.

Our Philosophy

Predictable profits fuel growth.
Predictable growth creates value.
Predictable, transferable value is the ultimate measure of success.

BTS works with owners who want more than a transaction. We work with those who want control, optionality, and a business that rewards the effort they have invested over a lifetime.

Clarity is not the end of the conversation.

It is where intelligent growth begins.

Leadership Built for Your Exit

Michael DeSiato, CPA, CFP, CExP, CEPA, CVGA

Leadership and Experience

Exit Planning Is Not a Side Practice. It Is the Practice.

Michael (Mike) DeSiato is the founder and CEO of BTS. As a CPA and CFP with advanced specialization in business exit planning, including the CExP, CEPA, and CVGA designations, he brings a rare combination of tax expertise, financial planning depth, and exit specific training to the moment when business ownership turns into personal wealth and long term security.

These credentials matter because exit outcomes are not driven by valuation alone. They are shaped by tax structure, cash flow durability, and how well an owner’s personal financial plan aligns with the business transition. But credentials alone are not why business owners trust Mike with the most important financial decision of their lives.

Exiting a business is often the single largest wealth event an owner will ever face. Get it right, and it funds freedom, security, and the next chapter of life. Get it wrong, and there is no second chance. Mike approaches exit planning with that reality firmly in focus.

He has guided numerous business owners through successful transitions and has exited his own accounting practice. That firsthand experience gives him a deep understanding of the financial, strategic, and personal realities of stepping away from a company built over decades.

At the core of his philosophy is a simple truth: you only get one shot at exiting your business, and that shot needs to be your best one.

To do that, every owner must answer five (5) critical questions:

  1. How much money will you need to fully fund life after the business?

  2. How much of that must come from the business itself?

  3. What proven process will close the gap between today and that goal?

  4. Who is qualified to lead that process?

  5. And whether that advisor is truly focused on exit planning rather than using it to sell unrelated products or services.

Mike’s work is guided by a disciplined, proven exit planning process and an exclusive focus on value growth and transition readiness. Exit planning is not an add on. It is the work.

With deep roots in accounting and taxation, BTS brings uncommon clarity to the true drivers of enterprise value, including profit improvement, sustainable cash flow, risk reduction, and tax efficient exit structuring. The result is not just a transaction, but a stronger, more transferable business and a financially secure life beyond it.

Career Highlights & Milestones

  • Began career in public accounting after earning a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Florida International University.

  • Returned to FIU to complete a Master’s degree in Taxation, establishing a strong technical foundation in complex tax planning and advisory work.

  • Elected Managing Partner of his accounting firm, leading firm strategy, client advisory services, and operational growth.

  • Led the sale of his accounting practice to a national firm, gaining firsthand experience navigating valuation, deal structure, negotiations, and transition planning as a business owner.

  • Served as a trusted advisor to mid-sized business owners across industries, with a focus on tax strategy, financial planning, and long-term value creation.

  • Recognized a growing need among clients for structured exit planning and intentionally specialized in this discipline.

  • Completed rigorous training and earned the following designations:

    • Certified Exit Planner (CExP)

    • Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA)

    • Certified Value Growth Advisor (CVGA)

    What These Designations Mean and Why They Matter

    Certified Exit Planner (CExP)

    The Certified Exit Planner (CExP) designation reflects formal training in the end-to-end process of exiting a business. It focuses on helping owners prepare years in advance so an exit is intentional, well-timed, and financially sound.

    Why it matters:
    Most business owners wait too long to think about an exit. A CExP helps identify risks early, align personal and financial goals, and avoid value-destroying decisions before a transaction is ever on the table.

    In short, this credential signals disciplined exit planning, not last-minute deal scrambling.

    Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA)

    The Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation, issued by the Exit Planning Institute, is widely regarded as the gold standard in exit planning education.

    It emphasizes a holistic approach that integrates:
    • Business value
    • Financial readiness
    • Personal readiness
    • Continuity and succession planning

    Why it matters:
    Exiting a business is not just a financial transaction. It affects income, identity, family, employees, and legacy. CEPA training ensures those elements are addressed together, not in isolation.

    This designation demonstrates the ability to coordinate strategy across legal, tax, financial, and personal dimensions, something most advisors are not trained to do.

    Certified Value Growth Advisor (CVGA)

    The Certified Value Growth Advisor (CVGA) designation focuses on increasing the value of a business before exit. It centers on identifying and improving the specific drivers buyers care about most.

    These include:
    • Sustainable cash flow
    • Profitability
    • Operational efficiency
    • Customer and revenue diversification
    • Risk reduction

    Why it matters:
    Owners do not get paid for effort. They get paid for value.

    A CVGA understands how buyers and investors evaluate businesses and helps owners close the gap between current performance and market-ready value. This often results in stronger offers, better deal terms, and more optionality at exit.

  • Shifted focus to working exclusively with business owners preparing for liquidity events, ownership transitions, and exits.

  • Helps owners increase enterprise value, reduce risk, improve cash flow, and exit their businesses on terms aligned with both financial objectives and personal goals.

Why Choose Me

Business owners choose Mike DeSiato for one reason: clarity when it matters most.

Mike focuses exclusively on business exit planning and value growth advisory work. This is not a secondary service or an add on to other offerings. It is the work.

He brings a disciplined, proven process to exit planning, grounded in advanced credentials and real world experience, including exiting his own firm. That combination allows him to anticipate both the financial risks and the personal realities owners face as they transition out of their businesses.

Most importantly, Mike works in the owner’s best interest. He does not use exit planning as a means to sell unrelated products or services. His role is to help owners build value, reduce risk, and exit on their terms with confidence and financial security.

Resources

Subscribe and Listen to our podcast, Exit This Way, below:

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